Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a fabulous and fun New Year and all the best for 2014!

xx
Keeks

ps. I don't make resolutions...

So here are some NYE party inspirations instead!

Completed Cork Wreath

It's finally done! I'm proud to announce that the wine cork wreath I've been working on since...well, since June, is finally DONE! I could have completed it in much less time, but I put it off for awhile when school got busy.

I got the inspiration for this wreath from Pinterest, but I didn't love the ideas I saw there. Most had the corks laid out flat on the base wreath. I wanted mine to look much fuller. Of course, this meant collecting a lot more corks. I thought the wreath would be the perfect addition to my house, the Wine Cellar, for our front door. Luckily, my friends and I drink a lot of wine and with the help of some family members, we were able to collect enough for me to make a full wreath. I love the many of the corks have personal stories that go with them; one is from a vineyard in southern Illinois where my roommate lives, others are champagne corks given to me by my boss, and many were saved up during my semester in Europe.

If you want to make a similar cork wreath, here is what you'll need:

plenty of wine or champagne corks (I would estimate I probably used 200 or so)

a styrofoam wreath for the base

metal floral pins

ribbon or other accents

Basically, I used pliers to bend the metal floral pins straight and poked one end into the cork and the other into the wreath. I used the synthetic corks I had for 'fillers' along the inside rim and saved the prettier, natural corks for the rest. I also tried to place some of the stained ends from red wine face-up for color variation. After putting in the corks one by one, I left a small space for a bow of printed burlap ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I couldn't decide what to put in the center, and I had a few leftover champagne corks, so I just decided to use those and I'm so happy with the way it turned out!